Akamai's Prolexic network cloud firewall now offers the ability to customize access control lists and deploy them at network edges. Credit: CIS Content delivery network (CDN) and cloud security services provider Akamai Technologies has added a network cloud firewall capability to its cloud-based DDoS platform, Akamai Prolexic.The new feature is designed to allow Akamai’s customers to define and manage their own firewall rules and access control lists (ACLs) —lists of permissions for resources in a computer system or network —to streamline security for their network edges.“Eliminating bad traffic is possible because Prolexic sits between our customers’ networks and the internet, and shields applications and systems regardless of where they are deployed: on-premises, in a data center, a public cloud, hybrid cloud, or a colocation facility,” said Sven Dummer, the company’s product marketing director, in a blog post. Prolexic cloud network firewall will be added to Akamai Prolexic’s existing suite, which includes several different products and services — including Prolexic DDoS Protection, Prolexic Routed, Prolexic Connect, and Prolexic Site Shield — to offer various levels of protection against different types of cyberattacks including DDoS attacks, web application attacks, and bot attacks. Prolexic network cloud firewall expands DDoS protectionAn Access Control List (ACL) is made up of a list of entries that specify the access level of users, groups, or system processes to a specific resource. For instance, a file’s ACL may include entries for the file owner, individual users, or members of a particular group, each with its own permissions, such as read, write, execute or delete.Improvements to Prolexic network cloud firewall include the ability to define custom defenses to block malicious traffic, move rules to the edge, and the ability to adapt to network changes via a new user interface. “Custom, self-service access control lists (ACLs) and firewall rules are extremely helpful for many aspects of DDoS defense,” Dummer said. “More than 75% of today’s attacks are at least partially blocked by ACL mitigation posture when these rules were configured by our Akamai experts in collaboration with our customers.”The new capability, apart from allowing definition and adjustment of access control rules, also provides analytics for them. A user can choose to have Prolexic suggest ACLs based on its in-house threat intelligence data.Locating the new network cloud firewall at a network edge is a key benefit — it eliminates the need for intervention by various network-based firewalls and defense systems, since the cloud firewall’s position allows it to switch access off quickly and directly at the edges, according to Dummer.“Then even the conventional firewalls across your network will not see that blocked traffic anymore, because they, too, are now behind Network Cloud Firewall,” Dummer added.Recently, Akamai also has been building up its DDoS defense capabilities by investing in its global infrastructure. Earlier this month, for example, it announced two new “scrubbing centers” — data-cleansing stations where traffic is analyzed and malicious traffic is removed — in Chennai and Mumbai, to help Indian businesses guard against DDoS attacks. Related content news CISA, FBI urge developers to patch path traversal bugs before shipping The advisory highlights how developers can follow best practices to fix these vulnerabilities during production. By Shweta Sharma May 03, 2024 3 mins Vulnerabilities news Microsoft continues to add, shuffle security execs in the wake of security incidents The company has appointed new product security chiefs as well as a customer-facing CISO as it continues to respond to high-profile attacks on its products and own network. By Elizabeth Montalbano May 03, 2024 4 mins CSO and CISO feature Malware explained: How to prevent, detect and recover from it What are the types of malware? How does malware spread? How do you know if you’re infected? We've got answers. By Josh Fruhlinger May 03, 2024 18 mins Ransomware Phishing Malware brandpost Sponsored by Cyber NewsWire LayerX Security Raises $26M for its Browser Security Platform, Enabling Employees to Work Securely from Any Browser, Anywhere Early adoption by Fortune 100 companies worldwide, LayerX already secures more users than any other browser security solution and enables unmatched security, performance and experience By Cyber NewsWire May 02, 2024 4 mins Cyberattacks Security PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe